Thread: Ohio: Let the gerrymandering begin

Ohio Rebuplicans swept the elections in 2010 just in time for redistricting. The proposed redistricting will pit two extreme left-wing career politicians against each other in the 2012 Democratic primary.

Kucinich who's had a lock on Ohio's 10th district since 1997 against Kaptur who has represented Ohio's 9th district since 1983.

This is great news, we are guaranteed to get rid of at least one of them.

CLEVELAND -- U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Marcy Kaptur jumped into re-election campaigns in the same newly redrawn congressional district across northern Ohio on Wednesday, setting up a primary fight next year between two veteran Democratic incumbents.

Kucinich to face Dem primary in new Ohio district - Forbes.com

As much as I'd like to see one or both get pink slips, Congressional districts should be set along county lines. For good.

I guess the democrats are discovering elections do have consequences.

Originally Posted by Commodore

As much as I'd like to see one or both get pink slips, Congressional districts should be set along county lines. For good.

I totally agree! This redistricting by the prevailing party every few years, for the completely transparent purpose of giving them an advantage in the next election, is completely CROOKED and UNDERHANDED when EITHER side does it.

What's worse is that now they are starting to play with the electoral college as well (which also needs to just go completely away.) A few states are looking to ditch their winner take all systems in favor of distributing votes by the congressional districts... which of course have already been gerrymandered by the prevailing parties.

Originally Posted by Commodore

As much as I'd like to see one or both get pink slips, Congressional districts should be set along county lines. For good.

You can't really do that as representation is supposed to be based on population. That's why you get districts that look like this one:
Illinois’s 4th Congressional District & Map - Luis Gutierrez

Originally Posted by lutherf

You can't really do that as representation is supposed to be based on population. That's why you get districts that look like this one:
Illinois’s 4th Congressional District & Map - Luis Gutierrez

That's fine. Give each county a weighted vote based on population. Use a identical formula for the electorial college.

Originally Posted by Commodore

As much as I'd like to see one or both get pink slips, Congressional districts should be set along county lines. For good.

I think that congressional districts should be set by an independent non-partisan electoral commission; that way the Congress would be truly representative of the electorate, and not gerrymandered to ensure "safe" seats for both parties.

Originally Posted by hairballxavier

Ohio Rebuplicans swept the elections in 2010 just in time for redistricting. The proposed redistricting will pit two extreme left-wing career politicians against each other in the 2012 Democratic primary.

Kucinich who's had a lock on Ohio's 10th district since 1997 against Kaptur who has represented Ohio's 9th district since 1983.

This is great news, we are guaranteed to get rid of at least one of them.


Kucinich to face Dem primary in new Ohio district - Forbes.com

I hope Kucinich wins as he's actually not that bad of a guy. He is kind of a Democrat version of Ron Paul.

Originally Posted by noahath

I think that congressional districts should be set by an independent non-partisan electoral commission; that way the Congress would be truly representative of the electorate, and not gerrymandered to ensure "safe" seats for both parties.

Agreed 100%. Unfortunately, here in AZ the commission ended up being very partisan and hired an outfit that actually worked for Hillary at one point. There's lots of legal wrangling going on regarding that right now and I'm not entirely sure how things ended up as messy as they have become but it's further complicated by the fact that we picked up one more seat this year.

Originally Posted by lutherf

Agreed 100%. Unfortunately, here in AZ the commission ended up being very partisan and hired an outfit that actually worked for Hillary at one point. There's lots of legal wrangling going on regarding that right now and I'm not entirely sure how things ended up as messy as they have become but it's further complicated by the fact that we picked up one more seat this year.

Here in Oz, politicians and political parties have absolutely no say in the setting of any of our electoral boundaries (whether it be at the local, state or federal level). I know the US FEC is pretty toothless, but I think the major parties have deliberately kept it so. Here, the Australian Electoral Commission governs the whole process of every election held. There is no US equivalent to a partisan State secretary of State who could possibly interfere with the electoral process, and we have never had a "stolen election". Mind you, we also don't have electronic voting. It's all done with paper and pen. All counting and seats are finalised within 24 hours of polling ending, although the senate seats usually take about a week. Recounts are done within the week. I'm certainly not saying it's perfect, but from my experience with US elections, it appears to be a lot better.